Houston-based Vertex Energy, which operates a 75,000 b/d refinery in Mobile, Ala., on Wednesday said it had emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and plans to pursue growth, stability and long-term value.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas allowed the company to exit bankruptcy as a privately-held company under the ownership of lenders. Those lenders include funds managed by BlackRock, Highbridge Capital Management, Whitebox Advisors and CrowdOut Capital.
Vertex said it has secured commitments for as much as $100 million in financing, including an initial $40 million. The company also said it strengthened its balance sheet following the deleveraging of $320 million of debt.
Chief Executive Benjamin Cowart and Chief Financial Officer Chris Carlson have left the company and veteran refinery executive Mark Smith has been named chief executive. Smith served in the same role at Philadelphia Energy Solutions after a stint as the president of Western Refining.
Vertex on Tuesday disclosed monthly operating reports for periods ending September 30, October 31 and November 30 as required by the bankruptcy filing.
The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sept. 24 and publicly traded shares were delisted soon after. Shares subsequently traded on the Over-The-Counter "pink sheets" before another delisting on Jan. 10.
Market sources said Vertex was a casualty of poor economics for renewable diesel. It spent millions of dollars on equipment to produce the biofuel, only to stop after it incurred substantial losses in the first half of 2024.
The company continued to process crude while in bankruptcy proceedings and produces ULSD, jet fuel, gasoline, vacuum gasoil and intermediates.
Recent market action at the Gulf Coast suggests that some of those "middle of the barrel" products have been quite profitable so far this year.
Year-to-date, Gulf Coast ULSD has fetched an average price of $100.10/bbl, providing a gross margin over West Texas Intermediate of $24.14/bbl. Gulf Coast jet fuel has commanded an average $98.02/bbl which works out to a gross margin of $22.06/bbl.
This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
-Reporting by Tom Kloza, tkloza@opisnet.com; Editing by Jeff Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 22, 2025 12:49 ET (17:49 GMT)
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